How Gender and Type of Crime Affect Perception and Proposed Treatment of Incarcerated Individuals

Abstract

State prisons across the United States provide care for over one million people (Ghandoosh, 2019). Policies within the criminal justice system, however, have been seen to differently affect the treatment towards various groups of people as well as their health and mental health outcomes (Ghidei, Ramos, Brousseau, & Clarke, 2018). Human perceptions have been seen to undermine the objectivity of criminal investigations within the criminal justice system (Meterko & Cooper, 2022). The present study further explores the potential role of human biases in prison policies, specifically between genders and type of crime committed. A total of 245 participants were included in the 2x2 factorial design and were randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups. Participants answered questions designed to measure their perception and proposed treatment of an incarcerated individual who was a male or female who had committed aggravated assault or motor vehicle theft. Results from the two main 2x2 factorial ANOVAs indicated that perception and proposed treatment of incarcerated individuals were not statistically different for males or females, or for nonviolent or violent crimes. Overall results generally align with theories of perception including implicit theories, two senses of humanness, mind perception theory, and stereotype content model.